Garmin-Sharp rides out injuries for Rohan Dennis' TDU hopes

GARMIN-SHARP is confident it can support Adelaide boy Rohan Dennis in his attempt to win the Santos Tour Down Under despite half the team limping to the start line on Sunday.

Cyclist Rohan Dennis.

GARMIN-SHARP is confident it can support Adelaide boy Rohan Dennis in his attempt to win the Santos Tour Down Under despite half the team limping to the start line on Sunday.

Dennis suffered serious skin grazing in a high-speed crash during the time trial at last week's national titles, and bravely started Sunday's road race before pulling out after more than 100km.

Nathan Haas was a late withdrawal from the national titles as he continues to recover from a hip injury sustained last year, while Lachlan Morton also pulled out of Sunday's road race due to illness.

There are however no issues for Aussie sprinter Steele Von Hoff who was in good spirits on Sunday night after winning the criterium and a bold showing against the climbers in the road race at nationals.

Garmin-Sharp sports director Geert Van Bondt said despite the less-than-perfect preparation for some of his riders, the team still hoped to deliver Von Hoff to a stage win and Dennis to the ochre jersey.

"You always worry but you cannot think about it, accidents or small illnesses, the riders are so skinny they are vulnerable for illnesses and crashes," Van Bondt said.

"But Rohan has trained very, very well and he's prepared for Tour Down Under.

"I know he's very ambitious because he missed it last year, so I guess he will be fully prepared for the race.

"We go there with one leader and that's Rohan, of course we also have Steele (Von Hoff) for the sprints and he showed in the crit (at nationals) he's very good and in the hilly stages it's for one person and that's Rohan."

Van Bondt said he had spoken to Dennis in recent days and was confident he and other riders would be okay by the weekend.

"Rohan unfortunately crashed in the TT but I rang him up and he said he was fine, he just had some skin off.

"Nathan had a crash (last season) and had some issues with his hip which is taking a pretty long time to heal. But it's getting better and better and he can train fully, for sure he will do Tour Down Under.

"Lachy was a little bit sick between Christmas and New Year, so he couldn't train so much that week and he said it would not be wise with the nationals being a really hard race.

"He planned a hard training week and he will be fully prepared to help Rohan for Tour Down Under."

Just to throw another spanner in the works for Garmin-Sharp, some of its staff were holed up in Paris on Sunday after their flight was cancelled due to a mechanical issue with their plane. They are due to arrive on Wednesday but the delay has not affected the riders.

"For us we have Australian riders and Jack Bauer from New Zealand so that's no issue for them. Thomas Dekker left today and Caleb Fairly, an American, he left on Friday so the guys will be able to adjust (to the time zone and weather) by the time the race starts," Van Bondt said.